Wine and pears share the billing at a Hood River festival this weekend. Though outnumbered 26 to 1, it's pears that still dominate agriculture in the Hood River Valley these days (along with cherries and apples).

The Columbia Gorge Wine & Pear Fest concludes a two-day run Sunday, May 18, at Hood River's Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, 1600 Air Museum Road, at the Hood River Airport.

Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Parking is free and admission is $25 for wine and cider tastings, vendor booths, live music, admission to the museum and, of course, pears to taste. And proceeds go to a good cause, Rotary International.

The pear component has a single booth, while the wine and cider tasting is spread among the aforementioned 26.

The pear booth is near the entrance, so you won't miss it among all the wine tasting booths. Brittany Wilmes of Portland told me about the pears, as a representative of USA Pears and Pear Bureau Northwest.

Pear growing is still big business in Oregon and Washington, where about 1,600 growers produce 84 percent of the nation's crop. Harvest begins in late August, so what is being served now at the festival has been in cold storage.

The red and green anjou pears still taste mighty good. About 10 percent of the crop remains, so there will be a few weeks this summer when the fresh pear you consume comes from the Southern Hemisphere. But will it be as tasty as those from the Hood River Valley?

Pears, of course, taste good out of the can, too. Those are usually the bartlett variety, she said.

After sampling the pears, festival goers work their way to the wines and ciders, from the rapidly expanding beverage industry in the Hood River Valley, across the river in Washington and out into the Columbia Valley to the east.